This thesis investigates the way in which tensions between the discursive dominance of the nuclear model and an acknowledgement of the plurality of family forms has been embodied in popular representations of fatherhood. Based on assumptions of gendered spheres of experience that define the domestic sphere as primarily ‘feminine’, fathers occupy an uncertain position within the discourse of the nuclear family. It is this ambiguous position, when contrasted with an assumption of their ultimate dominance, which creates confusion between the symbolic figure of the absent patriarch and the literal presence of the father within family life. Television, in particular, has regularly been forced to confront this dynamic between discursive absence and literal presence, due to the centrality of the nuclear family in both the commissioning and scheduling of programmes. Television’s representation of fatherhood regularly re-asserts or undermines patriarchal privilege by representing the father as a threat to the coherence of the family unit or as an overgrown adolescent who ultimately acquiesces to the ‘natural’ domestic authority of the female. In this way, popular television is able to continue restating a model of the patriarchal nuclear family, while simultaneously acknowledging its contested status as a norm of family life. As highly negotiated attempts to move beyond these common models have proven, however, this approach threatens to replicate a limited discourse of family life through incorporating variation into a single model, rather than broadening available representations. Through an analysis of the representation of fatherhood in the domestic comedy, this thesis begins by investigating the genre’s ability to invert traditional power relationships, allowing it to explore the limits of representing a coherent model of the nuclear family. Progressing to an analysis of the representation of fatherhood in television advertising, it goes on to examine the relationship between an acknowledgement of these limitations and idealised representations of family life within consumer culture. Incorporating a close reading of the ‘Adam’ series of adverts for British Telecom, their representation of a non-nuclear family unit and the role of the father within this unit, this work also considers the potential challenges and rewards of representing alternative models. Exploring both popular and academic discourses of family life throughout, this thesis concludes with a discussion of the possibility of imagining new forms of family that successfully include the father, and the threat to this process posed by their current incorporation into pre-existing representational models.

<p>Titel: Friends – Vänskap i förändring? En studie huruvida en TV- serie förändras</p><p>Författare: Pär Källman och Rickard Karlsson</p><p>Dokument: C- uppsats</p><p>Utbildning: Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap, höstterminen 07</p><p>Institution: Sektionen för Hälsa och Samhälle </p><p>Högskola: Högskolan i Halmstad</p><p>Handledare: Eva-Lotta Frid</p><p>Examinator: Malin Nilsson</p><p>Sammanfattning:</p><p>Vi har gjort en utvecklingsstudie i syfte att ta reda på om dramaturgi, dialog och karaktärsdrag, i TV-serien Vänner förändrats under de tio år som den producerades. Utifrån en kvalitativ hermeneutisk utgångspunkt har vi gjort en textanalys av serien. Vi har hämtat inspiration från diverse c-uppsatser från tidigare år och från narratologin och hermeneutiken.</p><p>I vår frågeställning vill vi veta om dramaturgin, dialogen, och karaktärerna på något sätt utvecklats eller förändrats under seriens lopp. Vi fördjupade oss i tre avsnitt ur serien, ett från första säsongen, ett från femte, samt ett från den tionde och sista. </p><p>Resultatet av vår analys visar att serien utifrån våra forskningsperspektiv består, snarare än förändras. Vi hade en teori om att serien på något sätt förändrats för att kunna ligga rätt i tiden och kunna behålla sin publik men i huvudsak skedde ingen större utveckling.</p>

Titel:Friends – Vänskap i förändring? En studie huruvida en TV- serie förändras Författare:Pär Källman och Rickard Karlsson Dokument:C- uppsats Utbildning:Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap, höstterminen 07 Institution:Sektionen för Hälsa och Samhälle Högskola:Högskolan i Halmstad Handledare:Eva-Lotta Frid Examinator:Malin Nilsson Sammanfattning: Vi har gjort en utvecklingsstudie i syfte att ta reda på om dramaturgi, dialog och karaktärsdrag, i TV-serien Vänner förändrats under de tio år som den producerades. Utifrån en kvalitativ hermeneutisk utgångspunkt har vi gjort en textanalys av serien. Vi har hämtat inspiration från diverse c-uppsatser från tidigare år och från narratologin och hermeneutiken. I vår frågeställning vill vi veta om dramaturgin, dialogen, och karaktärerna på något sätt utvecklats eller förändrats under seriens lopp. Vi fördjupade oss i tre avsnitt ur serien, ett från första säsongen, ett från femte, samt ett från den tionde och sista. Resultatet av vår analys visar att serien utifrån våra forskningsperspektiv består, snarare än förändras. Vi hade en teori om att serien på något sätt förändrats för att kunna ligga rätt i tiden och kunna behålla sin publik men i huvudsak skedde ingen större utveckling.

Thesis advisor: Bonnie S., PhD Jefferson / This paper examines the parallels between the situation comedies, The Golden Girls and Sex and the City. These shows possess striking similarities in their character portrayals and both emphasize the sisterly relationships of their characters. Using representative episodes, this paper illustrates that The Golden Girls and Sex and the City belong to the same unique subgenre of sitcoms that involve the non-traditional family formed by close female friends. In addition to criticism by genre, this paper also analyzes The Golden Girls and Sex and the City for each show’s individual manifestations of and implications for feminism. This study observes that the messages communicated by these shows are significant on their own, but are magnified when conveyed through repetition dictated by membership in a genre. Comparative analysis of The Golden Girls and Sex and the City intersects genre criticism and feminist criticism, creating a situational feminism that transcends entertainment with its social implications. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication .

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Nel contesto italiano, molti prodotti mediali sono di origine straniera: diffusi o trasmessi insieme a quelli di produzione nazionale, al tempo stesso cambiano spesso forma, per andare incontro al pubblico italiano, e diventano, almeno in parte, diversi dall’originale. La tesi vuole, pertanto, porre le basi teoriche per uno studio sistematico dei processi di “mediazione” che intercorrono nel passaggio di un testo mediale da un Paese all’altro: l’appropriazione nazionale (“italianizzazione”), l’adattamento, la distribuzione, la circolazione e la messa in pagina di contenuti e prodotti. Tali strumenti trovano poi applicazione (e insieme conferma) nell’analisi delle vicende italiane della sitcom americana, e di alcuni titoli in particolare, sotto tre punti di vista: la ricostruzione della storia del genere, che segue le evoluzioni del sistema televisivo e mediale nazionale e da questo è mediato; la definizione delle oscillazioni e variazioni che il testo affronta, senza limitarsi alla traduzione ma seguendone l’adattamento e la traslazione; infine, il racconto dei percorsi tra mercati, doppiaggi e reti che compongono la filiera della sitcom, mettendo in evidenza il ruolo intermedio svolto dalle routine produttive e dagli addetti ai lavori coinvolti nella distribuzione internazionale (e poi, nel nuovo contesto, nazionale). / In the Italian context, several media products have foreign origins: diffused or broadcast together with the national productions, they often change their nature in order to reach the Italian audience, and consequently become partially different products. Therefore, this dissertation aims to put the theoretical basis of a systematic study of the “mediation” processes that take place in the passage of a media text between two countries: national appropriation (“Italianization”), adaptation, distribution and circulation of different contents and products. Subsequently, these tools are applied on (and confirmed by) the analysis of the Italian vicissitudes of the US-made situation comedy, focusing on five titles, in order to study three aspects: the genre history on Italian TV, connected with the evolution of the national TV and media system; the variations and gaps that every text has to face, thus expanding the concept of translation into adaptation and transposition; in conclusion, the US sitcom chain in Italy, including TV markets, dubbings and broadcasting, highlighting the intermediary role played by production routines and professionals involved in the national and international distribution.

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